Abstract

Chinese literature is probably the only literature that boasts three specialist journals devoted to its translation into English. These three journals are: Chinese Literature, founded in 1951, Renditions, founded in 1973, and Chinese Pen, also founded in 1973.¹ The basic aim of all three journals is the same: to introduce Chinese literature to an English-speaking public. Yet these journals strike readers as extremely different entities, each with its unique editorial style, translation approach, and attitude towards the choice of material. Such diversity would suggest that these three journals interpret their aim"to introduce Chinese literature to an English-speaking public"very differently, depending on how they define the words "Chinese literature" and "English-reading public."

One of the major differences between serial publications and anthologies is perhaps that the structure of the latter is much more obvious, and the editorial philosophy much more concretely explained. With an on-going series both the publication's structure and philosophy would change as a result of changes in the objective circumstances such as a change of ownership or editorship, political upheaval and financial considerations. However, it is still true to say that serial publications work within the limits of their structural and philosophical (or ideological) constraints, and it is these constraints which determine how the three journals under discussion interpret their chosen field, "Chinese literature," and their chosen target readership, the "English-reading public."

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¹Chinese Literature was founded in 1950, but the first collection was only published in 1951. The publication schedule for Chinese Literature has been as follows: 1951-52, annually, as collections of translations; 1953, biannually, the beginning of a journal format; 1954-57, quarterly; 1958, bimonthly; 1959-83 monthly; 1984-present, quarterly. Its status as a serial publication was not established until 1953. The French edition of Chinese Literature is published biannually. Renditions has always been a biannual journal, and Chinese Pen a quarterly.